A 75-year-old man has died after a fire broke out in his apartment in Laval Wednesday morning.
There was no working smoke detector in the apartment.
The blaze broke out around 1:30 a.m. in one of four apartments in a building on Bas-du-Plateau-Ouimet St. just east of Curé-Labelle Blvd. in the Sainte-Rose district.
Firefighters found the man in cardiorespiratory arrest. They tried unsuccessfully to save him.
“The firemen did go inside the apartment and took a look around. If there was a fire detector, the batteries weren’t functioning, there were no batteries in it or there were none at all – that still has to be confirmed – but it may have helped in the situation to maybe save his life,” said Franco Di Genova, spokesperson for the Laval police department.
The fire was quickly put out and the other residents in the building were able to return to their homes.
Firefighters believe the fire was caused by a lit cigarette on a mattress, and the building's owner confirmed the tenant smoked cigarettes.
Laval regulations require landlords to install smoke detectors in each apartment.
"If he maybe would have heard the smoke detector the apartment next door would have heard it and woken up everybody," said Di Genova.
Neighbours said the man's wife had been hospitalized for several years, and that he visited her every morning.
